later, the president of america's a line talks about a campaign to reverse the high school dropout rate. "washington journal" is next. ♪ ♪ host: good morning, and welcome to "washington journal" on monday, march 21. our question for you this morning is what should the u.s. position in libya be? should it extend to the protection of the people or overthrowing and even killing general gaddafi?

the numbers to call are at the bottom of your screen. you can e-mail us and find us on twitter. you can send us a note and we will read it on the air this morning. take a look at the analysis in the "new york times." here is a report. that is what we are going off of this morning. we are looking into what must be done.

one newspaper says, now what? let's go to our democrats line in district heights, md.. caller: be good morning. -- good morning. i think the united states should stop acting like a gang of going into every neighborhood starting trouble. this leader is like a scared cat back in a corner. he can wreak havoc if he knows

he will be murdered. when i saw a admiral mullen on c-span yesterday, he was lying. the bottom line is this. if you destroy the infrastructure -- italy has allowed the influence on north africa and what has been going on there. let the other allies do something for a change. it is going to be hell to pay if we get too involved. we cannot go all over the globe acting like a teenager with their parents' club. host: let's go to wendy in fort lauderdale, florida.

caller: we should have little involvement. a couple of days ago, i appreciate that we have the true leaders in every country. texas, california, these people are calling in with a correct philosophy. we should organize. every day is the same thing. we call in, express our opinions, and nothing changes. we outnumber them. things. -- thanks. host: here is what john kerry said last night on "meet the press." >> we are trying to prevent a dictator from dragging people out of hospital beds where he then kills them.

they disappeared. the important thing is to see that in a larger context, we have enormous interest here. personally. making clear to the egyptians and others that are moving towards this awakening that the rest of the world is not going to stand by while people are being slaughtered. host: our question for you is what should the u.s. mission in libya be? how far should it go? there has been talk about the limit as to what the u.s. is willing to commit to. president obama said no troops on the ground. we are looking at airstrikes. let's take a look at the wall street journal piece. an effective no-fly zone has

been established over libya. western leaders have another issue to confront. what to do next. brooklyn, new york, republican. caller: we should be searching for weapons of mass destruction. short of that, what is egypt doing? what is the middle east, the country's closest to libya -- let them deal with it. host: to you feel we have the responsibility to the libyan people as john kerry was saying?

caller: it should be in some sort of support capacity. what is so special about the united states? we are only human beings. are not there other human beings in the area? the egyptians, arabs, they should feel closer to them then perhaps we should. i would like to see more participation from the countries in the area. everyone is saying we should do it. we may join in, but let's allow others to as well. host: take a listen to the american leadership role on fox news yesterday. we do not have that ready.

there is a question as how far should america go? should we play a leadership role for his supporting mission. we are checking in with how things are going so far. and air assault has inflicted heavy damage on the ability of gaddafi to fire missiles, according to pentagon officials. misery, democrats line. -- missouri, democrats line. caller: i feel like president

obama did the right thing. he waited. i think it took too long. as far as the guy from arizona -- senator john mccain. caller: yes. it relies on putting more pressure on view in the. they drag their feet on things. these things need to be done. they should be done to the united nations, and everybody should chip in. like the last caller -- [inaudible] the neighbors should be

assisting. giving technical support and ammunition and what ever they need. we should go along with that kind of stuff to support. it is not a revolution. host: take a look at what he was talking about in the "financial times. " they also mention comments from senator john mccain. here is the cn in the state of the union.

>> and president obama wait too long on the un to react? >> he waited too long. we need to support him and the efforts the military will make. our reaction -- i regret that we did not react quicker. the point is to get behind this effort and support it. i say to my friends in the congress that are nervous about another intervention, i am confident we can prevail. if we had not taken this action, the consequences of a failure would have reverberated for years. libya,et's go to the where a washington reporter joins us. i should say good afternoon or good evening to you. you reported on government officials discussing collapsed

buildings in tripoli. what did you see? guest: it was inside the compound of one of the residency areas of colonel gaddafi. it was recently hit in the past couple of hours. [inaudible] host: what is the mood like? what are you seeing? guest: it is quiet. two night of attacks. n attacks. of we do not know what to expect. everybody is a stunned. they were not expecting this to happen. they do not know what to do or

where it is going to lead. host: elaborate on the sense of shellshocked? are they -- how are they taking this? guest: there is real polarization. began a fewcked b months ago when people in the city started uprising. troops came out in an open fire of everybody at one point. that has not happened in a while. we know there were many people of adair. -- out there. host: what will it take for them to lose that sense of fear and get involved? guest: it is hard to get around

and talk to people freely. they are very scared. we have to contact government officials to get out. from the past few days, this is a real opposition here. this is the capital. people work for the government. it is a stronghold. they need to know they can be in enboldened enough. host: what about this building in the gaddafi compound yesterday? guest: i did not quite catch your question. it was about midnight.

what was remarkable about it is that there were these human shields around. they were trying to protect it. they were not nervous that they were just struck by cruise missiles. it was rather surreal. host: how significant is it strategically to have a strike there? guest: the strike happened almost exactly that the americans would not target gaddafi. the strike happened during the press conference. at what point he said that, i cannot quite remember the sequence of events. it was confirmed that they had struck the building, because of its control capability.

that may be where gaddafi normally receives visitors. he has probably gone into hiding somewhere. host: what is your plan for the next 24 hours or so? do you have a way you can get out and talk to people? how did you watch for your own safety? guest: that is part of the plan for the next 24 hours -- to see what we can do. i will have lunch and see what happens this afternoon. host: that was a correspondent for the "washington post." thanks for taking the time to talk with us. what should our position be? that is the question. we have a comment on twitter.

the mission should be coming home. from the "washington post" the arab league secretary-general deployed a team in the bombing campaign. let's go to texas, independent line. caller: i would like to agree with the tweet. we are having economic troubles. this is economically irresponsible to be there. the people that have the responsibility to take out gaddafi should be the ones that have alarmed him. host: republican, from oklahoma.

caller: i agree with the last caller. we should not be in libya. this will lead to mission creep. we are in a desperate economic situation. a dangerous economic situation. we cannot afford this kind of mission in the world anymore. i think this action is the last throes of a dying empire. we need a reality check. in our economy, the bubbles have popped. i am concerned for our country in this respect. host: take a look at the headline in the "new york post" edition. also looking at the "daily news."

no sign of gaddafi. what should the u.s. mission be? our next caller joins us on the international line. caller: a very minimal role that will end in the next couple of days. the french and british are close to libya. this is different from iraq. this does not keep the americans, canadians, germans -- this man has been sponsoring terrorism. people have to take him out. if they miss his compound -- it is a military complex.

when this guy is gone, it will be back to square one. he said in his speech that he would be back to settle his cause. this man has got to go. the u.s. should have a very minimal role right now. the british and the u.k., and the -- a couple of others should do the heavy lifting. this guy is a thug. he has killed many people over the decades. he will do it again. host: let's hear one person on "meet the press" yesterday. >> the goals of this campaign are limited. it is not about seeing him go. it is about supporting the united nations resolution which

talks about eliminating his ability to kill his own people. >> the mission can be accomplished in gaddafi could remain in power? >> that is one outcome. host: next caller in bakersfield, california. caller: i am glad to be talking on this show. i agree with what we are doing right now in essence. when it first happened and we had the americans in there, the republicans said we should do something now. he was afraid if he did, gaddafi could have grabbed all of those people and made hostages. now the small portion they are doing is just right. right now, the arab nations --

we do not need any more conflict. i am a christian, but i do not have anything against a muslim people. when 9/11 happened, i use the bathroom, and someone had written something racist about a muslim. i would hope that these relationships would stop. i do not believe there is a small percentage of people that are bad. host: minnesota. caller: i am for the tea party. we should not be in libya. we should not go and save everybody. we should use our own oil and save our own oil. president obama needs to be home and stop taking his family with

him to work. host: indiana, independent line. let's go on to tony on our democrats line from california. what do you think the u.s. mission should be in libya? caller: limited. it is a good thing. we stand by idly and did nothing with are for an rwanda. darfur and rwanda. there are bigger issues than president obama taking his family to work with him. host: looking at the international effort in libya, this peace talks about the vanguard of war efforts. -- piece talks about the vanguard of war efforts.

let's look at a comment from twitter. louisiana, independent line. caller: i am angry over all of this. we have no declaration of war from congress. we are going along with everything the you in a says. it is so similar to iraq. when we first went over there, we were told that the babies were being thrown out of the incubators. now they tell us they are

shooting people in the hospital. we do not need to be over there. we need to keep our noses in our own country, which has fallen. we do not need to be in libya trying to steal their assets and oil. host: the speaker of the house weighed in on this. let's hear from senator lindsey graham on fox news discussing the u.s. role. >> we used to relish leading the free world. now it is almost like it is an inconvenience. i want to be a good partner. i want the arab world to see us as a strong, effective partner for their hopes and dreams of being free. the caveat is that it is almost

like it is a nuisance. this is a great opportunity to replace i tyrannical dictator. we should seize the moment and talk about replacing him, not talking about how when did we will be. -- winded we will be. host: here is a comment from one person. a different perspective from a vivian on twitter. some of our callers have talked about what president obama is doing right now. he talks about brazil as a model. he was in rio de janeiro. his trip has been overcharged --

overshadowed by events in libya. we can go on to see what he is doing next. his next stop is el salvador. here is what the "washington post" says about that visit. democrats line. caller: thanks for taking my call. i was listening for reasons why the united states should be helping in libya. the reasons should be none. they say it is to stop gaddafi from attacking his people. our bottom line is we shot over 100 tomahawk missiles over 24 hours ago.

each one costs $1 million. i do not think millions have been killed by those bombs. we are dealing with criminals in our country, and the united states does not have any money to help its own people. the military complex has taken us over. it will take americans to stand up for ourselves. i love this country. we are in trouble. we better stand up and fight for what is right. thanks. host: here is what one person writes on twitter. dale in houston, texas, republican line. caller: i am of originally from ethiopia.

i know what a dictator means. i do not know why my american colleagues do not have any compassion for the suffering and exploitation of the people in africa. as human beings, we have an obligation to liberate people from exploitation. this is a un mission. the u.s. has an obligation to cooperate. as a superpower, we are playing the role not leading the region. [unintelligible]

this man has been a menace to the whole world. these people need to feel the sense of democracy that we enjoy. this is one way of of fighting terrorism, liberating people. some of the comments calling for criticism against president obama, but these people do not feel the pain of the libyan people. we cannot sit idly without playing a role. we need to play a humanitarian role. the course is justified. we should give 100% support to the un and u.s. participation.

this is corp. for liberation. -- cooperation for liberation. this will pay off. these people will be our friends. i applaud all of the american people, including president obama, for playing such a positive role. thanks. host: lexington, ky. what should the u.s. mission be in libya? caller: [inaudible] host: go ahead.

caller: [unintelligible] the un has not taken similar steps in other countries as it is trying to take in libya. when we have this kind of conflict, people can go down a slippery slope. i do not think we should be in libya. host: the envoy to mexico a is a wikileaks tragedy. the u.s. ambassador to mexico resigned.

the egyptians are supporting changes in early voting counts. the turnout is huge for a constitutional vote. let's go to miami, fla., democrats line. caller: i believe the president has done just the right thing. joining the international community in condemning a dictator or retirement, if you would, is the right thing to do. i believe -- i agree with the gentleman that called.

i believe he is from ethiopia. the united states needs to look around and realize is for -- are for freedom and democracy. when we were fighting for our own independence, many people came to our aid. these things cannot be done alone. it is time that we do not allow the kinds of abuses that are going on by these horrible men, who think they are god's, and forget they owe their service to the people. this is a message that is loud and clear around the world. i believe the united states cannot afford to hide its head in the ground. host: how far should this go? puc a limit to actions? -- do you see a limit to

actions? caller: the libyan people are capable of defending their freedoms. i believe we need to realize -- it is the most humane thing we can do for the world. host: sarasota, fla., republican. caller: i think president obama waited for the you in a to make their first move. everyone looks to the u.n., but they always dragged their feet. i think obama waited for them to make the move. the sad thing was the civilian death toll was rising at the same time. president obama was criticized for coming in late, but it is a fine line and a tough line to

decide if he was wrong. we have to be involved. i hear them talking about economics, the bubble, all of that kid stuff. in the long run, this man is capable with whatever weapons he has, and nobody knows what he has, he could sell them to terrorists, and it could work falsely in the long run. we are a world power. that is where we are put. that is what the u.s. has ended up doing. host: independent line. this is jeffrie. the good thing that obama did what he did by going in and trying to take gaddafi out -- he is nothing but a murderer from

the lockerbie bombing. it is the best thing obama has done. i am glad that we have a limited role in the mess. maybe we can take care of the things in iraq and get our economy straight here in the united states. host: democrats line, cincinnati. what do you think? caller: i am happy that we have a limited role. we do not know who the opposition is in libya. we know there are people that do not like gaddafi. we do not know who the other people are. i am against sending our troops into a situation -- a footnote.

i have no problem with the europeans being ahead of libya. it happened before. let them lead. let us sit back and conserve our energy, use what we need to use in our country. have a good day. host: an opinion piece in the "new york times."

cincinnati, ohio, republican line. caller: we have no business in libya. those people have never liked us. i do not think they ever will like us. we do not know who will be in power after gaddafi. he was part of the lockerbie bombing. the united states did make a deal with him about five or six years ago. he did give up his weapons. he allowed the atomic agency in

there to monitor his atomic facilities. he gave up all of his weapons of mass destruction. he has complied with all of the un resolutions. he was not causing any trouble to the world. i see no way of in toppling his regime. once we got rid of saddam hussein, look at what happened in iraq. we still do not have peace. we do not know who is going to take over. i am worried about this muslim brotherhood and them taking over. i am not sure the people in the united states are getting the true picture of what is really happening over there. host: is it appropriate for the

u.s. to hold back and be one of the few powerhouses in the world not to go in? would that create enough range dynamic for you? caller: not really. i think they are making a power grab for these small countries, for their oil. i think it is more about the oil of gaddafi than anything. he sits on some of the largest oil reserves in africa. i think it is a power grab for the oil over there. host: poland is not participating in this operation odyssey don. world leaders met in paris.

the polish position is clear. restraint in calm response. the "washington post" is dealing with which part of libya is being dealt with. there is the coastline of libya and where the air strikes are happening. new york, democrats line. caller: good morning. host: speak up and go ahead. caller: gaddafi is a tyrant.

he brought down the pan am planes. he authorized it to be brought down and did not care what happened. he is a dictator, and it is time for him to move. host: here is a comment from twitter. detroit, michigan. caller: good morning. i voted republican. i have watched president obama act like he is a strong person. i think he has done all of the right things. i have watched what he has done

in the detroit area, establishing a jobs bank. he is working hard. i do not have any sympathy for gaddafi. he was poised to murder nearly 1 million people, laughing into doing his thing. he has been in office for 42 years. his whole family runs the government. how can you have so much anti- american sentiment for a president that goes in there with missiles to try to save lives and curb this bully on the world scene? we need term limitations on these dictators. how can you run a country for 42 years with your family? people protests, if you do not

give them more votes, but more bullets. .is it is un-american. at somet's look political stories before we get to another call. former new york mayor, rudy guiliani, says an incumbent president either wins or defeats himself. not much in the papers about what congress will do when they get back. here is a look at possible presidential candidates of 2012. one is honing her presidential qualifications. we will talk about japan in a few moments.

this is the latest from "usa today." the death toll rises in japan. people are still being found alive. and 80 year old wrapped in a blanket found nine days after the earthquake in the tsunami hit. she and her grandson were rescued from their home in northern japan. phoenix, ariz.. what should the u.s. mission in libya be? caller: we should not be there right now. we are in bad shape energy wise, no renewable energy program like we should have. we are trying to get oil, in this case libya. next time maybe venezuela.

that is instead of focusing on clean energy, not those that come down a radioactive plumes. nuclear is not clean energy. that is absurd. we are trying to get oil under any condition. right now it is libya. then iran and venezuela. read"shock doctrine." there will be a military coup in libya. there'll be no leadership for resistance. the military will take over and we will fund a ton of money to them. then we will privatize the oil industry and trigger it over to

big oil in the united states. host: a comment on twitter. coming up later, we will look at consumer products data base. powerlook at nuclear after this break. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> beginning april 1 and

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you politics and public affairs. every morning is "washington journal" a live call-in program. weekdays, watch live coverage of the house. and each night, congressional hearings and policy reform. supreme court for all arguments. on saturday, the communicators, and newsmakers, q&a, and prime minister's questions from the british house of commons on sunday. yuca whatever programs anytime on c-span.org. c-span, washington your way. created as a service from the cable companies. "washington journal" continues. host:? spencer is from the heritage foundation. thanks for being here.

jack spencer. guest: fangs. everyone has been focused largely on what has been going on in japan -- thanks, everyone has been focused largely on what has been going on in japan. we are looking at whether or not we should build more nuclear power plants in this country. nothing has happened in japan that is indicative of the underlying safety of the technology. regardless of what is going on in japan, it does not erase the 50 years of safe operation we have had in this country and around the world. there have been a number of highly publicized actions -- the one that the japanese is dealing with right now, chernobyl, the

and one, three mile island. no one was hurt or injured as a result of radioactive release. the story in japan is still unfolding. chernobyl was very different from the other two. host: we are speaking with jack spencer from the heritage foundation. we are taking your calls. the numbers are at the bottom of your screen. would you call yourself a supporter of nuclear power? guest: it has great potential. we benefit greatly from it. we should not build one that is economically feasible. if we have the right policy changes to bear and a change in the economics -- but yes, i

support a nuclear power. its potential is limitless. host: 104 reactors in the united states. our most americans aware of where the plants are in the united states? guest: many of as a live near them. we get 20% of our electricity from them. one of the interesting points in looking at new technology, for those interested in environmental concerns, it provides 73% of our emissions- free electricity. host: obama asked regulators to do a review of nuclear plants. let's listen to that. >> we have a responsibility to learn from this event in japan. we need to look at the safety

and security of our people. i have asked the commission to do a comprehensive review of the safety of our nuclear plant in light of the nuclear disaster that unfolded in japan. host: obama speaking last week. he was asking them to do a regulatory review. he can not order them to do so. guest: the nuclear regulatory commission is looking at these types of things. the president had to make a statement such as that. there is a perception that earthquakes in this tsunamis -- and tsunamis, this is not new to our nuclear regulators and industry. in the u.s., we are constantly going over nuclear plant safety and upgrading it.

we need to learn whatever lessons we can from japan and apply those lessons. if any regulatory changes are needed, we should do that. host: a comment coming from the associated press by an.p.r. -- via n.p.r. guest: that is something that regulators should take into consideration. i think we need to see how this plays out. the information is so scant at this point. we should not make any broad policy recommendations. host: democrats line. caller: i do not think we can

afford not to use nuclear energy. it is good clean energy for the most part. i think we need to try to learn a little bit from what happened in japan. we should not put nuclear energy plants on the front line. we should not continue running them. after you see what an earthquake can do to a nuclear plant, it does not make sense to do that. sooner or later, you are waiting for something to happen. when it happens, this lesson that we are learning from what happened in japan is a good lesson. we should look at it. we shall not turn our back on

nuclear energy. guest: a great point. some of those close to fault lines are not as close to major fault lines as what they are sometimes described. moving forward, our regulators to a good job of identifying where the safest place is for nuclear plants to be built. this is an opportunity for us to learn what that process is, so we can move forward feeling safe about it. host: why certain states? guest: many of them are densely populated states that need a lot of energy. you get a lot of energy output

without a lot of land being used, when you are dealing with nuclear energy. nuclear power is a great way to provide clean energy. some of the new power plants seem to be further in the south, where you have increased demand for energy. it all depends. host: here is a comment from twitter. let's start with this idea of government guarantees. guest: i support nuclear energy. i do not support subsidies for anything. we should be able to sell our goods and services on the

marketplace and compete. the energy policy put forth a very limited guarantee program after 2005. i do not support or fight against it. most of the risk associated with our power is government imposed. it is through a waste management policy that is difficult. all of these sorts of things. establishing this is required before people want to invest going forward. a limited program has some justification. host: where do we put the waste? guest: it is a problem of the overall function of our industry.

right now, it is stored safely and efficiently. the federal government said they would take the place, and they defaulted on it for several years. the policies have not been as particular in the nuclear waste area. i work current plan is to put nuclear waste of in a mountain. host: this shows, which areas are seismically active and where these plants are located. .

guest: well, the agency's plan, they're always looked at and being monitored. some of our plants are getting up on a 40-year time frame. some have applied for life extensions for an additional 20 years. so right now the fleet of our plants are probably going to last at least 60 years and work is being done to see if can be

done further. i suspect that those lifetimes will be in the range of 60 to 80 or even more years. but what's critcrl to bear in mind is that these plants are constantly being monitored for safety and proper operations. host: jack spencer can the heritage foundation. let's take a look at some information from the nuclear energy institute about where the newest nuclear plants are. the latest was in june of 1996 in tennessee. prior to that back in 1993 comanche peak number two in texas. before that in 1990 comanche peak one in texas. and obvious that not any development for a long time. take us through the history of that. guest: well, one of the interesting things to bear in mind to those dates is not when those came in but when the regulatory process began.

for all of those began in the mid 1970's. when i mentioned earlier about the government-imposed risk and the regulatory environment, it's not a comment on being too much safety regulation. it's a comment of being too inefficient regulation. when it takes that long, literally decades to build a plant, that creates a ton of risk and unpredictability. when you are talking about a multibillion-dollar plant, that's when you get the government-imposed risk that needs to be mitigated at least for the first one or two plants. that's a big problem. host: mike, independent, buffalo, new york. hi, mike. caller: hi. how are you doing this morning? host: good. caller: my first comment is the guy from the heritage institute. i'm amazed that you guys always have someone from the heritage foundation or the a.a.i., american enterprise institute or the chamber of commerce, all of these apologists for

conservative thoughts. he mentioned that it was nuclear energy was emission-free. well, now he agrees with, you know, global warming and all that kind of stuff. but it's not clean energy, you know, as he mentioned before because there's nuclear waste. one of the biggest problems that they have is nuclear waste is stored on site and one of the reactors where they have the controler stored, that's where it's emitting the plutonium, which is more -- radioactive stuff that they use for the energy. you know -- and i just feel that -- and he was talking about subsidies. he doesn't support subsidies. nuclear energy would not exist if it wasn't for subsidies. so -- host: let's leave it there.

guest: let me nuclear power plants do create waste but unlike almost any other energy source that i am aware of, that waste is contained in the waste bundles. so if you took all of the waste that was generated in american nuclear power plants throughout the entire history of commercial nuclear power that waste would fit on a single football field about 10 yards high. so volumeetrically there's not a lot of waste there. we need to make clear that this is a political problem. it's not a technical one. whether we put it in yucca mountain, reprocessed it, or did some other technical application to it, there are answers to being able to deal with nuclear waste. industry and government does it all the time. regarding this plutonium, that's something that we've

seen percolating in the news a little bit that reactor three is a mixed plant. it has uranium and plutonium fuel in it. it's important to recognize that the percentage of plutonium is very small. it's about 6% of the total fuel amount in that reactor three. and all of that remains in the reactor. none of that was in the spent fuel pools. regarding subsidies, i don't support nuclear subsidies. i just don't. it's not that i don't believe in the potential of nuclear power. host: governor cuomo has found for a closure of one because it's vulnerable to an earthquake. what's your reaction? guest: i think it falls in the hands of the nuclear regulatory commission. indian point has been one of those reactors that has been a focus of the anti-nuclear movement. not making any accusations. people have concerns in light of what's going on in japan. none of less, i would --

nonetheless, i would follow the guide of our nuclear regulatory commission. it's important to realize the new york subway, for example, runs off of nuclear power. there are a lot of new york city relies on that energy. so if you take that away you have to replace it with something. host: secretary chu, the secretary of energy, says where you site reactors and going forward will be different than where we might have sited them in the past, where to place them. and this is in response to questions about the indian point nuclear plant near new york city. every time there is an accident we have to learn from those accidents and go forward. the chairman of the nuclear regulatory commission said his agency will review how we store spent fuel from reactors. the state of the spent fuels has been a major concern as they try to stem the release of radiation and bring the reactors under control. the n.r.c. chairman, greg

jaczko said, today everybody is worried about the spent fuel. guest: well, let's start with secretary chu and the citing issues. we don't site nuclear power plants just arbitrarily. we go through a specific process, a multiyear sprirmental assessment and looks at the seismic issues. we have a 50-year history of safe nuclear power in the history. do we learn lessons from japan that apply i think we should do that. i think the system in place from a citing standpoint is a good one. now, the chairman and nuclear waste is an interesting topic because he's been the subject of some controversial over yucca mountain. i agree with his assessment that a couple days ago we were worried about earthquakes and tsunamis. now it's spent fuel pools.

before we make any broad policy proclamations it's really critical that we learn the lessons and apply them, allow the japanese to see this crisis through. and we'll learn a lot from it and that should be applied going forward. host: jackie, democrats line in santa clara, california. welcome. caller: hi. he just got through saying that we got 50 years of no accidents. how does that relate to three-mile island? and i think that if people want nuclear energy then they should be required to live near the unit. people that don't want anything to do with nuclear power shouldn't live near it. unless you can design the spent fuel rods to be redesigned, why

would you want to do that to the planet? a wind -- a windmill, if it blows over, that's not going to hurt anybody. if -- if you have solar paneling on all the rooftops, that's not going to hurt anybody. host: all right. guest: this notion of 50 years of safe operations that i pointed out, i didn't say there's never been an accident. there are ibs dents and accidents all the time -- incidents and accidents all the time. there's never been a major accident that's resulted in loss of life in the commercial nuclear industry and -- host: in the united states? guest: in the united states, yes. that's an important safety record to recognize. regarding three-mile island, that was our most significant nuclear accident, no question about it. there was a partial meltdown there. that had the potential to be

really bad. but it was -- it was controlled. it was brought to a safe conclusion. it was a really bad day for the owner of that reactor. they lost a huge financial investment, but in terms of the impact on surrounding people and health, there just simply was none. the spent fuel and being recycleable. spent fuel is recycleable. that's the problem in this country how we deal with spent fuel. according to law we are mandated to do it one way, put it in yucca mountain. there may be a combination of yucca mountain and spent nuclear fuel that together bring us the best system to manage it. now, regarding other energy sources, the fact is wind and solar aren't to the point where we can rely on them heavily to produce energy. what we need is a strong energy mix and i would simply suggest

that energy producers and consumers are far better ash tores of what that energy mix should be rather than politicians and bureaucrats and that's what we need to move toward. allowing energy producers to produce energy and the government to set high safety standards regardless of source and allow that system to emerge. host: jack spencer, nuclear -- a piece in the "new republic" just came out a few days ago and it talks about the sher noble disaster in 1986. he said it was a genuine tragedy. 50 people killed. it's still unclear what states awaits the 800,000 workers known as liquidators who were sent in to clean up the mess. he said in fact studies have shown that one of the most serious health consequences of chernobyl was the psychological damage including posttraumatic stress. phantom symptoms and suicide rates skyrocketed. fear, it turns out, is one of the worst effects of a nuclear

accident. he asks which raised the question, is there any cure for our outsized atomic anxiety. for some reason we have a specific fear, a real palpable fear of nuclear energy. can you address the relationship of not only americans but the international community has with nuclear power? guest: yeah. we need to recognize where the technology came from. it came out of a weapons program. and we have been largely told that nuclear and weapons are similar. we've associated those two things culturally. as commercial foreign relations go forward, a lot of our fears that are in the weapons program i think are carried over with that. i don't know how we get over with that. we continue to educate ourselves, learn more about nuclear energy, weigh its pros and cons and learn from places

like japan. but yes need to make sure that we don't deny ourselves access to this really important power source if it makes economic sense, if it can be done safely which i think those things have been demonstrated to be the case. host: me policea, republican in buffalo. good morning -- melissa, republican in buffalo. good morning. caller: hi. i have to comment on the last couple callers. i'll be brief. first of all, for the person that said the heritage center is an apologist for a conservative thought, there's no such thing. there were people with differing opinions and you need to learn with to deal with that. if you cry about nuclear waist, why don't you cry for the millions of acres of human waste, garbage, that takes up planned fills in this country? and as far as three-mile island , i know you said before that no one got hurt but i do think it did affect the community.

so my question is, as far as safety goes, with regard to energy, we have the recent incident with the b.p. oil spill and there's been questions as to safety valve that could have been purchased that were or weren't in use. is there anything that can ensure lack of corruption in the regulatory system or anything like that to where we can have these safety measures in place? maybe not mandated by the government but just ensure that they're done at the discretion of the power plants? i don't know if i'm asking this the right way, but i think we need less nanny state type deal and more self-regulation among the nuclear power plants to make sure they are self-regulating. host: you talked about not wanting a nanny state but you are asking to see some real

responsibility when it comes to avoiding human error when you construct a plant, when you run a plant. so how do you bring those two together? who is responsible in overseeing to make sure that shoddy concrete isn't poured into a facility or that workers aren't, you know, slacking off on the job? caller: i think it just needs to get to the point where we have the government and the industry having a little give and take. we don't want the government in the business too much because then it gets to a point where you do have a nanny state and you do have an industry that doesn't get to have control. host: ok. guest: the caller brings up a number of really good points. let me first say that we often think of regulation, the more regulation the better and that's not always the case. there are examples where so much regulation is in place that people who know how to do right -- the correct operations, this isn't nuclear particularly but in industry generally, that it doesn't end up bringing about the safe operations that everyone would like to see. let me take a moment to comment

on the nuclear industry specifically. i'm not part of the nuclear industry. it's really important to say that because what i am about to say is good about the nuclear industry. the way we do regulations in this country for nuclear power is interesting. and i think goes -- it demonstrates where it's been so successful. we have the industry itself, the people who own the plants and operates the plants. we have a nuclear regulatory commission who enforces those standards and works with the plants. but we have a third leg to that stool in the united states. it's called the national institute for nuclear power operators. in our accident what we learned from is we need a separate organization who was private and independent from the industry and from government. it is there to share information, to show the world if there's a safety problem so that people respond to that because they don't want their peers to see them not operating safely. they do a whole bunch of stuff so we have this three-legged

safety regulatory system in the united states that has worked very well. i think brought a lot to bear of what the caller mentioned. one of the things we at the heritage foundation has recommended is a similar system be set up for the oil industry which i think it was she. some people mentioned about the oil spill. host: ok. let's go to roanoke, alabama. steve on our independent line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go right ahead. caller: ok. i worked at a nuclear power plant. when i first started work, we were going to build four 750 kilowatt units. we couldn't build but one because of the cost. now, if you take -- we have 104 nuclear power plants in the

continental united states of america. on average the 750 kilowatt-powered units, how many acres of land would it take to put wind farms up? do you want someone to come in your house in the morning and say, hey, i'm going to put 50 or 60 of these three -- 300 -foot windmills in your yard? i don't think so. guest: we would need a lot of wind farms. now is not the time to pit one energy source against another. i don't think it's the right way to go ever. i would like to see the energy sources bring what they bear to the marketplace and the consumers to determine which is best to make sure that every american has access to affordable, clean, abundant

energy. nuclear i think is part of that mix. host: how come nobody is mentioned that g.e. built the mark plant? and this is causing fear like the bomb. we have this from the nuclear energy institute. the main reactor manufacturers, the top two are general electric and westinghouse. guest: well, we need to make clear that no one builds the kind of reactors that we're having the problems in japan with. that's an old reactor model but a g.e. model. g.e. has very up-to-date reactor models. it's based on the same technology, boiling water reactors. they have the safety upgrades and something we would see in a fourth generation nuclear power plant. host: ok. let's take a look at this piece in "the wall street journal" to see what happens when radiation is released in nuclear

facility, what is released in a nuclear plume. unstable atoms gives up radiation which can cause damage to tissue and sometimes trigger cancer. it takes us through what the bylogically significant contaminants it harmful. they have this diagram here of the human problem. eye done 131 can harm the thyroid. cesium 17 can affect the entire body. strentium 90 tends to get deposited in the bone marrow. and plutonium 238. it can become airborne again and cause harm. it can target bones and bone marrow. these are the folks in japan are talking about when they look at what they need to be aware of. the article is called "radiation fears prompt a new

exodus." it says a week after a massive earthquake and tsunami, people fleeing from the northeast coast, we are seeing a new refugee, those running from radiation. it prompts a question, why, if this is a problem of a nuclear power plant, why? guest: let's look at radiation, specifically what's going on in japan right now. radiation levels are elevated on site and those are the folks who have the most to worry about now, but it's important to recognize that even there the levels remain low enough that workers can continue to operate. that tells us something. right now on site radiation levels are about 1/3 what they are, what you get from a c.t. scan. so just to give it some perspective. not defending it, not saying it's good. that's what it is host: there are questions of how safe c.t. scans are.

you should not ge repeated ones. guest: or unnecessary ones. those are all sort of the effects. things what we're hearing about iodine being found in the water. look, that's bad. we don't want iodine -- radioactive iodine in the water. that said, radioactive iodine has a relatively short life and will decay fully in a couple weeks. it's not good at all. i'm not suggesting that. i'm not suggesting it's something that needs to be stopped but it's manageable over time. some of these other things are going to be -- you're going to see some proliferation of them but they are going to be in very low levels likely, based on the information we have now, and largely confined to the immediate area around the site mostly. anything we see beyond that, according to the best information, which things can change and we're seeing with this in particular, events change on the ground

minute-by-minute. you're going to have local within the evacuation zone, more contamination but even those should be well below what is dangerous for public health and safety. host: mary ann joins us from ohio. good morning. caller: good morning. well, first i just want to say i hope folks have sent money or whatever kind of contribution they can to japan. i mean, obviously folks there are in dire straits. so hopefully folks have sent money. jack, you made a comment about waste being kept on the sites. i really question that. i mean you obviously know more than most of us. you know, really, is the waste, nuclear waste kept at the site, is that 100%? and then, which existing plants, nuclear plants have had the most serious violations and are -- where can we go to find more information about which plants have existing

violations? and can you be specific about how much nuclear energy is subsidized? and then i just want to make another comment about some earlier callers about where c-span draws their guests and whether -- if they have agendas how they are subsidized or funded. and i think it's a really important issue to look at because how is the heritage, you know, institution funded and yesterday you guys had claudia rosette on. she's a war pusher. and she started talking about iran as many of the folks who supported iraq. so i hope you have someone far more balanced on there like clint leverette from the new america foundation which is a great think tank. they base what they say on facts and not their personal opinions. thank you. host: mary ann, we strive on

"washington journal" to get a wide range of guests on. some are journalists who try to give the story from their objective perspective. we also have guests on who are opinionated. we try to give you a little bit opinionated. we don't have government funding here at c-span. and to give you a little bit more information about our guest, jack spencer, who is a nuclear fellow at the heritage foundation. he worked on commercial, civilian of nuclear energy at the babcock and wilcox companies based in charlotte, north carolina. let's get to the comment on twitter. as long as private industry agrees to unlimited damages, no cap, i don't have a problem with nuclear. if they don't then forget it. guest: what the twitterer -- i don't know what that person is called, the tweeter, i think it's price anderson which is an insurance regime which government elemented to cover -- industry pays for. industry is paid for completely

to cover damages for a nuclear power -- a nuclear accident of some sort. as i stated earlier, i'm not a fan of nuclear subsidies. what my stance has basically been is that nuclear subsidies should not be renewed. and, you know, i think with price anderson that renew hahl is not up for i think 15 years. as we get -- renewal is not up for i think 15 years. we need to see if there is a better system for that. i am not saying we should do away with price anderson. that's a legitimate question. recognize that's rooted in a different time and different place. if i could address the subsidy question that the caller just asked. how much of nuclear power is currently subsidized? nuclear power largely operates without subsidies -- subsidies today. that's the 104 nuclear power plants. you have price anderson, you have the waste issue. now, waste is not subsidized. the government said, strirks you pay us a fee and we'll take the waste. we don't know if that fee will take the waste cost because

government never implemented the program. it operates largely without subsidies in the marketplace. my concern with subsidies going forward, as we have this opportunity to build new nuclear power plants that we become too dependent on subsidies and you'll never pull out the inefficiencies for them to be competitive in the long term. it's about future nuclear plants rather than existing nuclear power plants. host: one television special indicated that france decided that all of its nuclear power plants would be built exactly the same. the government examined all designs and had their scientists choose the best design. the efficiency of building all plants the same is obvious, and anyone who worked in one could transfer with another with ease. he believes that all plants are individually designed in the u.s. and that earn ell would not necessarily be able to transfer from one to the other. guest: well, in the u.s. our nuclear plants, we have a handful of designs and those

are represented in our nuclear power plants. each nuclear power plant is a little bit different. i would hesitate, though, from choosing -- from allowing the government to choose a design and then keeng that design going -- keeping that design going forward. that keeps away from technological innovation and any number of other things. if when design emerges that is better than the rest, that will be the ones that utilities move toward and that will occur. i would point out, though, that despite the -- in the u.s. of us having multiple designs, that hasn't impacted our safety record. we have a very good safety record here and that's testament to our ability to regulate and to operate those different types of reactors. host: georgia, republican line, good morning. caller: good morning. yes, ma'am. host: hi, there. caller: i basically support the

first caller, let's do smart things. building on -- i think it was diablo canyon, that was not smart. let's do smart things. i equate three-mile island in many ways to the ted offensive in that the propaganda put out about that was just designed to do -- hurt the industry as was ted designed to hurt our troops. let's do smart things. as the saying goes these days, let nuclear energy go forward. for people not wanting to live around a nuclear plant, if they don't want to, shut down the one in new york. cuomo has the idea, just shut it down and let them walk. guest: i'd like to address this

earthquake issue because that's something that's come up a number of times. i think it's important to recognize what got the plants in japan was not the earthquake. despite them not being engineered for a 9.0 earthquake, despite them being 40 years old, it wasn't the earthquake. it was the tsunami that put them in the position where they are now. that wasn't an excuse. they should have been prepared to withstand a tsunami as well but it's important to recognize that these power plants in the united states and around the world are built to withstand earthquakes. as i said earlier, that's something that the nuclear regulatory commission and investors -- investors don't want to put billions of dollars on the line into something that will be taken away via earthquake. this is something that will be taken under very serious determination to try to site a plant. host: thanks for joining us this morning.

jack spencer nuclear energy senior fellow at the heritage foundation. guest: thanks. host: coming up we'll talk about boosting high school graduation rates. first, we'll look at a new consumer product safety database that looks at everything from cribs to toasters. let's go to a news update from c-span radio. >> it's 31 past the hour. more on the damaged nuclear power plants in japan. the state department in a statement earlier says it's offering potassium iodine to its staff in japan as a precaution against a possible new radiation release from the fukushima power plant. turning to the situation in libya, u.s. military officials say missiles pounded muammar gaddafi's residential compound in tripoli. even though they say the country's leader is not a target of the u.s.-led air strikes. the officials did go on to say,

however, that colonel gaddafi's safety cannot be guaranteed. and word now that pro-gaddafi forces are scattering and the u.s. is moving to hard control of the military operations over to other countries within days. meanwhile, defense secretary robert gates has arrived in russia there to discuss missile defense shield in europe and other military issues. the secretary in remarks to reporters traveling with him says that cooperation in the afghanistan war and support of u.n. security council resolutions underscores the cooperation that's evolved in recent years. secretary gates expected to retire this summer. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> every weekend, experience american history on krupp3 starting saturdays at -- c-span3 starting saturdays at 8:00 a.m. eastern. hear first-person accounts from people who have shaped modern america on oral history. travel to important

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watch c-span online. search by topic, bill number or member with timelines and transcripts of every session at c-span.org/congress. "washington journal" continues. host: coming up this morning at 9:00 on c-span2, we'll bring you a briefing by the nuclear regulatory commission. that's a response to the nuclear events in japan. we'll get a status event -- status update on events, what's going on there. that will be the chairman will be speaking at the n.r.c. live on c-span2 in about half an hour. our guest right now is ami gadhia. she's with the consumers union policy counsel. thanks for coming in. we want to talk about the consumer product safety information database. what would it do? guest: well basically what this database will do is allow consumers who experienced a safety hazard with a product to report that safety problem to the consumer product safety commission. the cpsc is the agency that has

jurisdiction over about 15,000 consumer products. things that are not cars which are regulated by nhtsa, things that are not food and drug and medical dwisses which are regulated by f.d.a. if they have something that causes risk or injury to themselves or a family member, they can then report that information to the database. it will also allow consumers to search for other individuals' experiences with safety problems with products. so before you purchase a crib or a stroller or toaster or what have you, you can take a look on the database and see if others have had problems. host: and who would oversee that? guest: it's the consumer product safety commission that oversees that data. host: so let's say someone, jody has a concern about a toaster that caught on fire in her kitchen, she logs on to the website? guest: the website is saferproducts.gov.

she would have to fill out eight minimum fields before the complaint would be considered for publication by the cpsc. the cpsc staff would take that complaint. they got five business days to then send her complaint which she's got to fill out what happened, a description of the harm, a description of the product, some information about herself as well as her contact information and then that complaint, minus the contact information unless she consentence, gets sent to the manufacture or the private labeler of the product. that manufacturer or private labeler then has 10 business days to respond to the cpsc to indicate it was materially inaccurate information, confident business information or make another comment. if they make a comment that comment would go up alongside the complaint on the database. if there is materially inaccurate information or confident business information it would not go up on the

database. host: you've taken us through -- it's not like you hit enter on your computer and suddenly it pops up for all the world to see. guest: correct. host: how do you protect against false claims? guest: you do have to fill out your contact information. there's no anonymous complaints allowed. so that contact information is there so that, one, to prevent those anonymous complaints, and for them to follow up on those making the complaint should they want to investigate further. the second step is that the cpsc has indicated that there is a verification that the person making the complaint have to give. what they're supplying, the information they're supplying is true and accurate. and that can be prosecuted. false claims will be prosecuted and should be prosecuted. there is also, like i said, a series of eight fields that have to be field out to begin to sort of narrow what information you're gathering and to get some four corners

around that complaint. and then in addition, there's also a -- as i said, an opportunity for the manufacturer or private labeler to then comment. and materially inaccurate or confidential business information won't be going up either. host: ok. starting from "the plamplet times," it's like a regulatory version of squgsqugs survivor." a federal database of product safety complaints is now open after repeated attempts by republican lawmakers to cripple or kill the resource. although the database is finally active, we won't see full potential until a full week. he writes that until now there was no way such a search could be done. the only notification of a potentially harmful product is when federal authorities announced a recall, something that could come after months or years after a report. so hamm a.m., consumer union

policy counsel, why do you think this is a valuable resource? guest: first of all, as you alluded to in "the l.a. times" article, there are complaints either to the manufacturer or to the cpsc either don't see the light of day or take months or years before they see the plight of day. in the meantime, that is information that another consumer could use to protect themselves from a product hazard. we have unfortunately too many stories of individuals who sadly lost children to products that had been recalled. or lost children or had their children injured due to products that other consumers already had experience with as being dangerous. this is life-saving information that's now going to get into the public's hands more easily and quickly with certain safeguards in place with -- to keep out inaccurate information. the other reason that it's really important is that there

is a -- there's a large amount of information that consumers right now have that perhaps the cpsc is not always able to get its hands on quickly and efficiently. the cpsc's current i.t. systems are rather siloed and so they don't have an efficient single place for which to search for emerging trends, emerging safety hazards. they can look in one place and see a lot of complaints for a particular type of product. that will allow them to more efficiently use their resources . host: some republican lawmakers and industry leaders have criticized this. let's take a listen to congressman mike pompeo, comments made last month during the long-term continuing resolution for 2011.

>> the consumer product safety act of 2008 called for an information database. last year they adopted database rule that fails to uphold the statute. it would require the agency not allow materially inaccurate information to be on the publicly available database and yet the rule, as promulgated, actually requires the agency to post materially inaccurate information. and it requires the database to post it within 10 days. this will drive jobs overseas. it will increase the cost for manufacturers and consumers. they announced support for this amendment. the home appliance manufacturers, the american home furnishing association, all have recognized that this amendment is terribly onerous. this does not ask that this go away. it just asks for a delay in

implementation. it asks for some time for the committee to review this regulation and come up with a regulation that is -- makes sense and is consistent with the scratch ute. host: congressman mike upon payo speaking on the house floor last month. he offered an amendment to delay funding for the database until they fix aspects that he says is of concern. the amendment was approved in the house 234-147. the senate reject that had overall regulation, that is a continuing resolution. we will speak to congressman pompeo to get his take in more detail. we are looking at the consumers union perspective on this. ami gadhia is our guest. what is your comment to the congressman's concern? guest: well, i would make a couple of responses. the database has a series of protections in place to weed out those materially inaccurate

information from going up. the reason that it says materially inaccurate is because we wouldn't want a situation where a company says i don't make a blue toaster. just to keep that complaint from going up when the complaint is about the safety and not about the color of the toaster. it needs to be a materially inaccuracy, not inaccurate material. what i also want to note, there's already a model for this database. this is one at the national highway and traffic association. it allows customers to make complaints about cars and car components and child seats that they've had safety problems with. those complaints go up ve, pros and many instances go to safercar.gov. it puts in place these protections to weed out inaccurate information. similar database for the public

also exists at f.d.a. it's a medical devices database that consumers, medical providers and others can report the same as the cpsc database. there's also -- what he said about driving jobs overseas. and i think quite frankly because a lot of manufacturing has already gone overseas for these type of consumer products, what we are actually doing is making sure that the products that are imported to the u.s., if they are unsafe and they do injure consumers, that they're being identified and are being dealt with. that will be a benefit to american companies as well as to consumers. there is also the fact that what the database is meant to get at, again, delays of months or even years of critical information that consumers could have used to protect their loved ones that simply wasn't seeing the light of day. we have heard of instances where consumers have called a company to complain about a product that injured themselves or a family member and the

company has said, this is the first we've heard of it. we've never seen such a complaint before when in fact that's not been the case. what this database will do is show consumers that perhaps there is a pattern and it will show the cpsc that perhaps there is a pattern of safety problems that need to be dealt with. and the database, which we've been told costs about $3 million, that money has been expended. and so to stop is in its tracks now when it is something that will be useful to consumers and exists at other agencies will be a waste of resources. host: let's go to raheem on our democrats line in the bronx. good morning. caller: good morning. thanks for having your guest. i think her name is ami gadhia. particularly c-span has representatives of big oil or big nuclear but this is refreshing. regarding the database, it's a sensational idea. my only concern, like many other people in america, would be there would be no need for a

database if our government and the corporation protected u.s. residents and didn't use us as guinea pigs. there seems to be too little testing before these big companies are given the rights to put out products. but congratulations on the database and keep guests like this on because we need more voices and less heads that represent big corporations. host: thank you for that comment. the law that created this database creates a requirement for the first time that consumer products that are geared toward children, children's products are tested before they're sold. guest: raheem, you might have assumed that someone is looking out to make sure these products are tested for safety. this law creates that testing requirement for toys and other children's products. host: ami gadhia is policy

counsel for the consumers union. their website is consumersunion.org. they have in quotes, working for a fair, just and safe working place for all. she works with congress and federal agencies such as the f.d.a. and the consumer product safety commission, also the national highway traffic safety administration as part of her work with consumers union. if you want to join the conversation and speak with her, we're talking about the consumer product safety information database. you can call us, democrats, 202-737-0002. republicans, 202-737-0001. independent callers, 202-628-0205. let's go to jonathan on the republicans' line in maryland. hi, there. caller: hi. how are you today? host: good, thanks. caller: my question. the database i think is a great idea but the thing is, is this going to create a lot of government bureaucracy in

consumer products? the f.d.a., the food and drug administration, they're getting subsidized housing loans or projects to certain companies in the northeast. i wanted to find out -- what's going on with that? guest: well, jonathan, thanks for your questions. i unfortunately cannot speak to the second question, the f.d.a. and the section 8 housing piece. i'm not familiar with that. but what i can speak to is your first question is which -- will this create a lot of bureaucracy? we think it will reduce it. for the first time you're having a findable, searchable place to be able to look for

emerging product hazard patterns. it's -- if a series of consumers are complaining about a particular product, it will have them say, ok, we see a pattern here, we need to put our resources towards directing a large or a serious hazard with a product as opposed to maybe going in other directions that may not be the best use of resources. we think that is actually a very good use of the agency's resources and will help them become more efficient in the future. host: touching on some his questions, how much has this cost so far and will it cost to maintain the database? guest: it has -- we've been told -- it cost $3 million to implement. as far as the cost to maintain, i'm not sure, but it is something that because it's, you know, mechanized and is on the web and it's something that is technologically streamlined than the agencies had before we think it will be a good use of their resources. host: annie in albuquerque,

welcome. caller: good morning. host: hi. caller: thank you for taking my call. i heard you make a comment in passing about a medical device database and i didn't hear where that database is located, and i hope that you'll repeat that information. also, i would like to suggest that the -- that a database that collects information about consumer problems related to all things medical would be very advisable. i am aware of people who have had problems with taking prescribed medications, for example, and use of medical devices that are not being studied, that are not being followed up, people who have a reaction to a medical device or a medical procedure or something that because the

nature of the reaction seems to be outside the tightie little categories of the physicians who are working in the areas -- the physician who prescribed the device may be specialized in one area. so the result of that maybe the physician doesn't put the relationship together and therefore these things are not being followed up and not being reported because they have to do with human bodies, with entire human bodies and entire human beings. this is an area where i've had the opportunity to learn something about this professionally as well as having some personal encounters with those issues. i would like to see an expanded database which might even to some extent involve people who seem to be a little bit nutty to begin with because they are going to be complaining about things that seem to be a little bit crazy and yet sometimes

those things will pan out and turn out to be realistic. let me ask you to repeat the information about the medical device database that you mentioned. host: all right. we got your question. thanks, annie. guest: first to respond to your question to the medical device database is maude, mambings a-u-d-e. i think if you would do a web search for maude in all capital letters at f.d.a., or go to f.d.a. and search for maude, you would find out. smars the point you made at the end about information panning -- as far as the point you made at the end about information panning out, we think the information is best made public, other consumers' experiences. they're able to use that information and empower themselves to do whatever they think is best. if they want to buy that

product or not that choice is up to them but at least they have the information to do it. host: james asks on twitter, how many government agencies monitor public safety? guest: that's a good question. so the consumer product safety commission is charged with the jurisdiction over 15,000 consumer products. as i mentioned earlier, those are products not cars or car components. those are cars and car components are regulated by the national highway traffic safety administration. food, drugs and medical devices are regulated by the food and drug administration. so the cpsc is things besides that. and meat and poultry and eggs products, it's regulated by the u.s. department of agriculture. so the cpsc is things like toasters and strollers and what have you. host: hollywood, florida. hi, there. caller: good morning, ms.

gadhia. i want to ask you recently what happened with johnson & johnson and how the lady was on front of the board saying that everything happened from some palettes with some type of bacteria or something. how is the administration going to approach things that are for like children who get sick all the time before one of them could die? i mean, how could you stop it? because people won't complain until their child is really, really ill. guest: thank you for the question. i know what you're talking about with the johnson & johnson, i believe the toinl product that had a smell -- tylenol product that had the smell to them. i think that's correct. those are the products that are regulated by the food and drug administration as oy posed to the consumer product safety commission. but those type of complaints

which i think people may experience around the country and they may think it's just them or just their product, what this database does is it begins to give consumers a place to report that so that the agency in charge of regulating those products, in this case the consumer product safety commission, can see if there are in fact groups of consumers, not just one or two here and there that are complaining about a problem and they can begin to identify what products might be in need of a larger recall or some other stuff like that. so that's a good example of where information is power for the agency as well as for consumers. host: let's look at an ad that they took out in "politico" recently. will this crib leave parents sleepless? if you buy a crib you want to know if it's safe. the act created an easy to use database for consumers to report on some products. some members of congress want

to stop that database. that was paid for by the consumers union. our guest, ami gadhia, is policy counsel for that group. talk about that battle going on in congress because the republicans are seeking to put this on hold, what does your group see happening here? obviously you thought it was important enough to have a full-page ad in "politico." guest: there was an amendment attached to the continuing resolution to defund this database. we're glad that didn't go anywhere in the senate and in fact did not become part of the continuing resolution that's since been passed to fund the government for a few more weeks. we continue to be vigilant. we think this is a fantastic tool. we will continue to be vigilant to make sure the database is not defunded and that it's allowed to move forward. host: let's go to dorothy, republican in michigan.

hello, dorothy. caller: can you hear me ok? host: sure. caller: i have a comment and a question. i guess my comment would be, as far as the products that people purchase are concerned, in the past i have had a stroller that was purchased during the winter because my daughter was born then and so i really actually didn't get to use it until the spring. i used it a few times. the button that collapsed causing it to close. you see with a make and model number for a car. there is a time you purchased it, whatever. in that case, i returned -- they sent me a brand new stroller and i returned the old one and i didn't have a problem. i had a similar situation with a coffee pot. filled out the form. i was on record. i told them my problem. they sent me out a new one and there was no problem. that was my comment.

and then people before they sell products, i'm sure they go through testing to make sure that it's going to be fine and this and that. and so before it gets to the market it should already be tested. and then once it hits the market, you got this big database, people -- you're going to want all these people calling in. i don't know. i'm getting carried away. i have a question. it's concerning the regulation and the bill. i heard a while back, probably a year ago or so, in regards to regulation, a part of a provision was that when somebody sells something in a yard sale that had been recalled that they could be fined up to $10,000 without even knowing the product that was purchased may be seven, 10 years ago was recalled, do you know anything about that? and that's probably part of the reason that the republicans want some of this defunded or not defunded but not to go through is because of the amendments that are added to it

they are just ridiculous. host: the republicans do want it defunded. you have it absolutely right. let's go to ami gadhia for a response. guest: first of all, i'd say it's very good that you filled out your registration card. we ask you to send it into the manufacturer because if there is a product recall they can contact you quickly so you can stop using the unsafe product. .

children's products before they are put up market. not all of those products, but things like the stroller will be have to -- will have to be tested for safety. much of the polling seemed to think that the prominent role is it in insuring the safety of children's products as important. they do agree that there should be a strong wall for the federal thought the and 82% big break -- the database was a good idea. host: ami gadhia, of the consumers union. we are talking about the consumer product safety information database, which would be run through the government. we have a comment on twitter.

"being an arbiter of good and bad is a powerful position. how do you guard against favored companies." guest: i do know -- do not know if that is in regards to the database or the union. the consumers union is a non- profit publisher of consumer reports magazine. very carefully we have guarded our independence for years. we are 75 years young. this year is our anniversary. we have guarded our independence. we do not take any advertising for products. that is where our own very developed regarding and protecting against favored companies concepts, in. we work hard on that. with regards to the consumer product safety commission database, again is a place for

safety related concerns. not product reviews, but safety products -- safety concerns that consumers have experienced. i think that to the extent the two are just gathering public information, concerns over favorite companies would not come to pass. host: republican joining us from hong kong. good morning. caller: good evening. host: good evening. caller: i wanted to ask your guest, because there are a lot of situations where people are importing, they are no longer just manufacturers. often they are just going to another organization in they fail to realize the original manufacturing sources. also following up with licenses

as far as what they have been licensed in terms of approval. what are the penalties for people that follow up the regulations. guest: if i understand you correctly, you are asking about the failure to farm safety regulations. i think that what we have to look at our a couple of responses. first, how is the consumer experiencing the problem -- product? they will experience the product with a brand name and perhaps a make and model. if the product is licensed by manufacturer but the product is manufactured by another company , you look at what the consumer sees. if it is part of the manufacturing overseas, you look at what the consumer has experienced.

the database is meant to take that information and capture that when there is a safety problem. the consumer reports a description and describes the identity of the company as they see it. the connection between what the consumer experiences and who might license the product is something that is obviously something that the company would know. that information is connected to the database when the consumer product safety commission makes that transition to the company that is the man -- manufacturer. >> let's go to congressman mike pompeo, joining us on the phone right now. he is one of the vocal critics of how the consumer product

safety information database is going forward right now. good morning congressman. caller: good morning. host: thank you for joining us. are you opposed flat out? caller: my opposition has been very clear. if the government is involved in creating a database that the government -- that americans are going to use, that the information needs to be useful. to be useful it has to be accurate, timely, complete, and in the context where a consumer to learn something. to the extent that they have implemented what congress has told them to do, they have got that wrong. >> is there a way to improve that to your satisfaction? caller: what i have argued for is a delayed implementation until we can get a database that would work. host: give us some specifics

about how it would not work in your opinion. caller: today when a complaint is filed the consumer product safety division is required to post that information online. that is simply not enough time for a company to respond. frankly, i do not know that the consumer product safety commission has enough resources to deal with the things that will appear before them. in 10 days, regardless of the status of a complaint, if they were able to timely identify the manufacturer correctly, that information must go online. the government ought not to be in that business. host: as the story says, looking at your connection to the koch industries, the hometown firm

is amongst the world's largest privately held corporation. host: some people have made allegations that you are an advocate of putting this on hold because of your relationship with the koch industry. caller: that is a silly statement. they are a significant employer in the fourth district of kansas. we believed that is the right way to go people that this was politics, trying to draw connections where there are not. people can say what they would like, but i think that america is looking for leaders that do

something different than making attacks on great citizens and companies out doing good work. host: defeating the consumer product database is a top lobbyist concern for the koch industries since 2008. how do you balance the interests of corporations that are important to your district with the needs of citizens? caller: i came to congress from the private sector. i have run two small businesses and before that i was a soldier. i spent 24 months talking to the citizens and listening to their concerns. amongst their primary concern is and the state government that is too big and spending too much money that, frankly, we do not have.

75 days in my time in congress i am taking all the tasks that the people have test we with. the people that i met in rural kansas. i understand deeply their concern about this enormous federal government and every day i go to work to make sure that i represent them as they asked me to. host: let's take a call. jane, democratic line. caller: good morning. i am going to have to paraphrase a bit, but i believe that it was thurgood marshall that said this as applies to lawyers, but i think that applies to all of us. a lawyer is either a social engineer or a social parasite. it applies to all of us. you are either concern of -- over the greater good or the

greater greed. it is quite obvious to me that the prior guest from the heritage foundation and those in the u.s. chamber of commerce are not concerned about the greater good, they are concerned with the greater greed. more concerned with the profits of nationalists. regardless of what their products due to the public. the public are just peons. that is told to was by the economic philosophy of trickle- down. if we are injured, it is just collateral damage. caller: first of all, i want to make sure that consumers have accurate data. there is nothing worse than the government running apple bloa b. i have heard your guest id you talk about this as republicans opposing this.

i proposed an amendment that received a bipartisan support. a number of democrats joined me in their concern over the consumer product database. i think that your characterization that this is just republicans concerned about this is not reflective of what is going on in congress. host: let's take another call. independent line, annapolis. caller: it seems like 10 days is not a lot of time to respond. my question is to -- how many comments, questions, or requests for information is the fda or cpsc receiving in a given day, week, month, i do not know what the volume is. host: do you have a response? caller: i do not have the answer. host: what about that 10 day window? caller: it is nowhere near long

enough by their for the agency or the citizens, as identified in the complaint. consumers are in good faith will let attempt to identify products and they will just get it wrong if they went into your home or my home and tried to identify the manufacturers of each good. there is no vehicle identification number of consumer goods. they have a much more complex set of issues and it is not possible for a small company with literally no staff, sitting out there waiting for the consumer product safety commission to send him a note to respond within 10 days. we certainly need more time. other protections could be put in place. host: congressman mike pompeo, thank you so much for joining us this morning. caller: have a good day. host: thank you. we are here with ami gadhia from

the consumer union. we have been talking about the consumer product database. congressman mike pompeo is one of the great opponents of the consumer product database. his amendment did not go anywhere on the set aside -- senate side. your response to what you heard from the congressman? guest: a couple of thoughts come to mind. first of all, i want to repeat something that i heard from manufacturers. this is not a causation database. this is a complaint database. this is simply information that consumers and members of the public have experienced regarding safety problems. information that has been hidden and hillel. we have stories of,

unfortunately, too many parents who have lost their children to a malfunctioning product. levels of accuracy have been raised. i cannot stress enough how many protections are in place to protect against inaccuracy. there was a mention of vehicle identification numbers on these types of products, they are going to give it to the commission. a company that manufacturers or labels the products, the category that falls into, accuracy, and consent to have contact information published in

the database. what we heard from the consumer product database is that if there is a concern raised over material inaccuracies, it can be resolved within 15 minutes. something done within a quick and easy time. . days in regards confidential business information and they will be the one responsible for flagging those issues. it also tracks what is in the consumer product safety act that allows the consumer product safety commission to do its work. the 10 day review of the complaint before it goes up mirrors the same kinds of notifications procedures that have taken place at the commission before they have released a recall information to the public.

it is also easing the soft launch on the database at the end of january. it went through about 10 days ago. the soft launch allowed and the manufacturers were encouraged to sign off on the business portal. allowing the companies to be plugged in, signing up to get the complaints to the right person in the company when they are, crosse. that is something that we think will help to move things along. host: let's get one more call. john, independent line. new york. hello. caller: thank you for c-span. my question was actually for the congressman, but he already

left. i had a cat that got poisoned by that chinese pet food. we have children getting strangled in cribs. this has got to be more about manufacturers making money. people have got to come first. i am an independent. my question would be, either keep talking about the nanny state, but when will they not be a man the world? we worry about how everyone else in the world does except for our own people. host: what happened -- and i am sorry to hear about that -- after your cat died. were you given a recommends? caller: i complained but no one gave and the rectum pence. they just gave out that morning after the fact. by then for many of us it was

too late. our pets were already gone. it was all to make some money off of pet food. it is fine to make money. manufacturers. people have to work. but not at the expense of consumers. host: we will leave it there. guest: i am so sorry to hear about that. pet food physical administered by the food and drug administration. there was a lot earlier this year as it gives dempster the ability to make pet food safer. one thing that would help consumers to identify in a way that makes others were comfortable is in the those have

been fought by manufacturers. added to the law, in the past we have seen resistance to the idea of tracking labels. it is the kind of thing that could help to address concerns about inaccurate information. i would stress the fact that the highway traffic safety administration has been running for about 15 years. host: quality council for consumers union december, ami gadhia, thank you for being with us this morning. guest: thank you. host: coming up next, american graduation rates. first, c-span radio. >> the russian prime minister,

vladimir putin, is the first -- order the first strike on libya -- but said it did not justify military intervention. he did support the action of crusades, calling the resolution flawed. turning to iraq, the american soldier has died in the country. the soldier died from wounds suffered in a roadside bomb attack. military personnel have died in iraq since the war began in march of 2003, the total number standing at 4031. as president obama continues his latin-american trip, but it will be the president's first

news conference since the attacks began against the forces of muammar gaddafi in libya. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> tonight, marking the 18th anniversary of the apartment of homeland security with tom ridge and michael chertoff, as well last janet napolitano. the discuss the structure of the agency and what they miss most about the job. >> i miss working with the people but i came to trust. they did a lot of hard work. there was no telling when you were around good people. it was something that you would want to run home to talk to the family and kids about.

host: a discussion of the department of homeland security tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> tonight, c-span 3, a white house summit on bullying. featuring remarks from president obama and first lady obama. >> as adults we remember what it was like to see kids pick done. i have to say, with my big years and by name, i was not immune. i did not emerge unscathed. but because of something that happens, something that has always been around, we turn a blind eye. >> tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern on c-span three pirie upon -- c- span >> "washington journal" continues. host: marguerite kondracke,

president and ceo of america's promise. welcome. founded by general colin powell to make children and youth a national priority. right now you are kicking off this event, grad nation. what is that campaign? >> -- caller: i was not -- guest: i was on this program one year ago when people launched the campaign. a 10 year campaign to end the high-school dropout crisis. we have been gearing up, doing research, and getting ready. today begins our first. -- first annual summit. the power of the summit is that we are bringing people in from all over the country, 36 states, 800 people have registered. every sector is represented. nonprofit, philanthropic. everyone has pulled together to make this possible.

host: why the focus on curbing the high-school dropout rate? guest: the greatest crisis facing the country today is the education crisis. many people do not realize how bad this has become. one-third of all kids are dropping out. we know that they personally have no future if they do not finish high school. the nation is at risk. this is a 10 year campaign that will take all to make it possible. host: you have a new board out -- you have a new report out. calling this an epidemic. guest: we do use that term because there is almost a fibril effect when young people start dropping out. peters encourage them to drop out. we need to make school cool

again. make them realize that their future depends on staying in school. four years ago we had a report called the silent epidemic to raise the issue to the nation's attention. we have been hosting nation dropout prevention summits. now it is time for action. this report really helps of the launch, but we have to do to build this nation? host: i schools to graduate less than 60% of students, we have information on that. the number of those dropout factory schools recently declined, but the total number was 1600. guest: the interesting and exciting silver lining, if there is one, if we focus on the lowest elementary schools, will

schools, high schools and neighborhoods, for decades these neighborhoods and schools have been under-resources and ignored. if you think that only 12% of high-school account for half the problem it gives you some hope. if we focus, we can really make a difference. since we started to call attention to these dropout factory high schools, we have begun to make incremental progress. we have improved taken off this list. if communities focus on the lowest performing schools and we do have a road map, we can make a difference. this will take all thus staying focused. host: talk us through it. guest: it is straight forward, there is no silver bullet.

you have to start early. every child needs preschool. look at early reading. they have to be reading at grade level by fourth grade. we need to focus more on middle school. half of them go from ninth grade to 10th grade. we need better teachers, better principles. there is roughly a 10. road map. -- 10 points or road map. host: a three day summit starts today in washington, d.c.. joe biden will be delivering remarks. as well as the educational secretary. melanie barnas, the director of the white house policy council. guest: one of the exciting things is we have members from the two largest teachers unions

there. we have the habit -- the head of education for the gates foundation. we have the business community. superintendent's from many states. it will take all of us to make this work. many of the kids in these neighborhoods need extra support. they come from families that are not as privileged as yours and mine. they need our support. they need health care, after- school programs. paying attention and knitting together the nonprofits will kick them ready to learn when they go to school. host: been joins us from maryland. good morning. thank god for c-span -- caller:

thank god for c-span. but poll by children out of public schools two years ago. i am 34. i have two sisters that our teachers. it took me until i was an involved parent, two years ago, to figure out what participation based grading is. they use this in the classroom. they do not crave the children right or wrong, it has been like that for years. no standards whatsoever. i do not care whose child it is, if you give them an inch, they will take a mile. what are they even doing their? it is like that across the country. i did some research, back to the 1960's, dr. spock saying that we are not supposed to spank children. all of this psycho stuff.

if i child is not quiet and says ant 2 + 2 = 5, she would've a. ask your parents how they are -- esther teachers how they are grading children. guest: the most important point is that parents need to be involved. only 30% of americans have any contact with school systems today. probably because most families do not have kids in a public school, or they are grown. we do need more rigor and relevance in the curriculum. we need the basic disciplines and civil society principles that we all believe are crucial to becoming a healthy and responsible citizen. host: becky, democratic line, michigan.

good morning. caller: i could not hear you for a second. listen, the first thing, before i forget anything, i have got to rescue. it just came to my mind. when jennifer granholm became governor she talked about not allowing kids to have driver's licenses. she got a standing ovation and i never would have thought of such a thing. i thought that it was brilliant. i do not think that they did it. another thing, i have moved to this godforsaken place because my husband's shop did and then he got laid off, but that is neither here nor there. the school system itself looks wonderful. it is one of the poorest in the country and they are all brand new. the kids, most of them do not

have textbooks. they just of copies and stuff. the main thing that i've wanted to rescue is -- the main thing that i wanted to ask you is, when did they decide that a child at the age of 16 -- picture and the 16-year-old kid that you know -- picture any 16- year-old kid the to know, they have the intelligence to drop out of school and ruin their lives? guest: that is the most important point. we still have 25 states that allow young people to drop out at the age of 16, legally. that is left over from when we were an agricultural economy. tennessee did the same thing. requiring young people to stay in school or they lose their driver's license.

this is the approach that we need. as you said, young people are often a bit short-sighted and perhaps need more encouragement and incentives to stay in school. host: marguerite kondracke, commemorating the launch of their grad nation campaign. the summit runs through wednesday. what are the biggest takeaways in the report? guest: we know what works, we know what to do if we can get the community, state, and federal government to stay focused and pay attention. it is really too bad. we have wonderful momentum on behalf of educational reform at the time that the nation is going through a fiscal crisis. we have to appreciate that this great economic crisis is the education crisis.

80% of jobs created today require some kind of post- secondary training. we have got to focus on education and keep the momentum strong in terms of education reform. in the report, you can see that we know what to do. there is a road map. communities and schools are making progress, those focused on doing it right in turning things around. host: your research found that states that reduced the number of dropout factories were western states? guest: rural communities are outpacing urban communities, which is interesting. we find continued progress in the southeast, the midwest, but less in the northeast. very few of the state's lost ground over the past year.

host: the biggest decrease was in california and south carolina. the biggest increase in dropout factories, georgia and new york. guest: there is still a problem in the southeast, although they are making progress. if we focus on this finite number of lowest performing schools, we can make a difference. states in the community that are focusing their resources and efforts are seeing dramatic improvements. host: texas, good morning. caller: i have three points that i would like to make. one, the biggest problem with skills today is the lack of corporal punishment. unless you get the children to behave, they will not learn. that makes them leave. second, let's bring back basic education. not all of this joke.

third, get rid of the athletic programs. it is a waste of money. put that money into textbooks and teaching. guest: interesting to hear about getting rid of athletic programs in the middle of march madness. [laughter] i will say that there is an element here where we need to focus on more rigor in the classroom. we found that when we did focus groups amounts dropout youth is that one reason many left is that they were bored and they could not see the connection between the work they were doing and the real world. part of what we are asking for is more direct involvement from our business partners. help with the training that we need. become mentors, especially for the kids from the neighborhoods that really needed -- need it.

host: we have an e-mail from sarah -- host: would this not help to level the playing field? guest: financing of education is at the heart of the challenge. a good question and a smart but of commentary. most schools are funded exclusively with property taxes. blighted neighborhoods are struggling for resources. secondary schools have been left out of the picture. only 10% of title 1 money goes to high schools. yet they are the heart of the problem. but we need to stay strong in terms of federal support, cooling tax dollars is an interesting idea. i do not think that we want to lose control of schools as they

are part of the american way. the report roadmap calls for a great deal of flexibility. that is where we have seen success. with communities that work within the framework and do what is best for their kids and their system, they are the ones getting excited and seeing results. the financing of schools is a problem. local budgets are facing a great deal of pressure. we fear losing what we have gained on education reform. tomorrow night at&t will be announcing a $2 million commitment to the campaign. this is the kind of excitement that we need, target announcements on significant commitment. state farm is rolling out a campaign tonight to highlight

the fact that every 26 seconds, a young person drops out of high school. picking up on the basketball interest, mcgraw and james is featured in this campaign. the business and philanthropy sectors will have to be a part of the financing to maintain momentum. host: marguerite kondracke, let's go to quaker town, pa., where james joins us on the republican line. good morning. caller: it is interesting that you did not address what had to be said about corporal discipline. a lot of people would probably guessed that that idea. i went to school in the public- school system of the pennsylvania dutch country and i think that culture and race played a role. we had paddling through the 1980's. i got my ass whipped all

through up to 1980. my mother would laugh. we were not litigious. it was unheard of to have a child but could not read. i grew up in a democratic factory town. we had no money. everyone had big families. it had to do with a healthy fear authority. your teachers work to meet -- committed to the community. by third grade teacher was my sunday school teacher. there is a cultural dynamic. what about the racial conflicts in the school system? black students constantly attacking asian students, they had to be pulled out of south philadelphia schools because they would go from room to room because they hated them. major conflicts are going on in california with race riots between blacks and mexicans.

there has to be a permanent police presence in our schools? armenians battling hispanics? you cannot ignore the racial dynamics here. unfortunately, we do. guest: two points that i want to talk about regarding racial issues as well as corporal punishment. it comes back now and then. go back to basics, including spanking. i cannot condone the idea of hitting a child. i do not think that corporal punishment will be the way to motivate young people, teaching them respect in civil society. if adults are modeling corporal punishment, i fear that violence is still the model. to combat racial issues, we are trying to create a culture -- the issue of bullying is a problem.

gay students have trouble with that as well. there are racial issues and diversity issues from all walks of life. if we need to teach young people self-respect, then they can respect others. our civil society becomes frayed. it starts in the schools. teachers are struggling to hold their own. the business community coming into the schools, we have to find ways to model correct behavior. the racial issues are able problem. this is in the lowest performing schools and neighborhoods where these under-resource communities have been ignored for too long. we must have community engagement to save these kids when they're younger, get them started right. host: i found a piece from the asian pacific americans for progress web site, looking at

this issue of looking at what is going on in south philadelphia schools. it looks at how asian-american students attending schools that are racially targeted. host: -- guest: this is the truth about young people, sometimes they feel bigger if they can put someone else down. the only way through this is aggressive education and community engagement, trying to change the culture and the spirit. but it has to start young. we have to get into the school's first, those young people will be stronger and filled with more self confidence and self- respect. host: marguerite kondracke, james rights to was on twitter. something we have been touching on throughout the morning.

is anyone asking why we have kids dropping out of schools? guest: we have had young people introducing major speakers at the summit. we believe that peer counseling to make a big difference. young people are saying a few things. first, no one cares if i go to school. second, school is boring. third, simple economics. children feel that they have to drop out to help with their families and they do not realize how they are shortchanging their future. education is the best way to break the poverty cycle. inviting stronger discipline in terms of civil society within schools, better teachers and principals, more exciting curriculum coming in to show how the world of school connects to

the world of work. and then it has to be with peer counseling. host: indianapolis, david, hello. caller: this is one of my passionate issues, so bear with me for a moment. i wanted to post a comment and then ask a question of view. -- of view. -- of you. i grew up in a very poor catholic school. i was able to get an education from that school. anything that we had that was old, we had it. my own children went to public school. i have one graduate coming out as a nurse and a son going to illinois to be an aerospace

engineer. i am a strong proponent of the idea that children react to caring. we need caring teachers, caring parents. that is when children will start to care about their education. i want to talk about all these things you are talking about, but i wanted to rescue about the stance on public education against private education. my stance is that children will get an education if we show them that it makes a difference later in life. they do not have enough experience to determine whether it will make a difference down the road. they cannot see what we can see as parents. you have to have people that care about the kids. host: thank you so much.

caring adults is the first promise of the five promises of america's promise. if young people are not blessed with caring parents as david is, this is where teachers, coaches, ministers can step in. lowest performing schools are often in neighborhoods where there is a central church element in the community. it can be a great influence in a young person's life. i want to highlight the city year as a great partner. they are doing a program called diploma now, making tremendous use of americorps volunteers becoming peer counselors immediately after graduation and coming back to the schools at a time when national service is threatened. this business can be that

caring, older youths or a young adult that can be crucial in a young person's life. host: caring adults, safe places, healthy start, affective educations. guest: we have looked at the violence and bullying problems in schools. schools are no longer assumed to be safe places. we know that even schools are not save. host: lisa, virginia, good morning. caller: i had a couple of questions. the first -- you said that we wanted to know why they are coming out of school. over the years are more children dropping out? or has it been the same for the last 20 years by have two kids

that scored perfectly but report in school. finding out later on that they had autistics spectrum. kids that do not fit into what everyone expects, they drop out as well. no one noticed. different way that kids learn would be helped have children do things where they can work with their hands, which can lead to working with mathematics and science.

without classes where they learn about finance or home building, we have taken those glasses out of the curriculum. no wonder children are bored. no wonder the only way they think they can be a success is if they go to college. we need to tell them that they can do something else after high school which may not necessarily be college. guest: we do see that post- secondary does not need to include an ivy league for your college. one of the better things about the no child left behind is that we appreciated that every child can learn and deserves a chance to learn. we need to strengthen and improve the no child left behind. the elementary education act is coming due for congress this

year. it is crucial that your listeners that this congress know that we need to support the improvements needed in elementary and secondary education acts. it is the only way that we can keep strong the alternative learnings that different young people might have. the question that was posed first, is the drop out crisis worse? or flat? first, we have better data. we have been fooling ourselves as to how good we were doing previously. it is now require that every state reports the same. finally, we will have better data that can be compared, community by community, state- by-state. in the past we were fooled into thinking that we were doing better than we were. many countries around the world

are leaping past us. we have rested on our laurels. assuming we have the best education system in the world, we have not focused in -- on it in 25 years. rules are more important and teachers are more important to these other countries. we are 29 to in the world in science and math. this will not stand in our global economy. host: as part of the grad nation campaign there is a goal of reaching 90% graduation rates by 2020. host: -- guest: that is the goal. today we are at roughly 70%. we are beginning to make incremental progress. we can accelerate this if we focus on the lowest performing

schools and the young people that need us so much. we have the goal that no school would be less than 80%. so of the lower schools are at 60%. we share the president's commitment to be first in the world at college completion. we have not only a graduation crisis in high school, we also have the same crisis in college. 80% of jobs require some form of post-secondary. today 12% of minorities that start -- only 12% of minorities that start college finish. host: md., rocky. good morning. caller: can you hear me? host: yes.

caller: my question goes back to the very beginning of life. many families have broken down. i have a friend in pennsylvania. you have many diverse groups, where the children aspire to learn where there are a great number of children born out of wedlock. the motivation is not there. problems are rise. we must get back to the men and women that decide to have a child. do they have any understanding of morality or fidelity?

that is a big step. we as parents we have broken down. infidelity, sorry to say, adultery have become too commonplace but i do see that as an issue young people have children too soon because they do not see their own future. guest: we need to get them to stay in school and believe in themselves, breaking the cycle of teen pregnancy. we know that many families are stressed to the breaking point. people growing up in homes with only one parent. you are right, it is not the fault of the young person. the children are the victim in

these circumstances. host: bill, marietta, ga., one of the two states with it the biggest increase hello. but when we were children we never went in. host: no one will complain if you are not a high-school graduate. guest: my concern is that we should be seeing.

and as far as technology goes, these children are very talented. let's get their ideas about being innovative. thank you for the great job. host: thank you. one quick question, the pentagon has issued their own report that nine out of 10 young people that report to recruiting station are ineligible for military service. there is an obesity problem and mental health problem as well as the high school dropout crisis. our member -- national security is at risk. guest: that is the point at which we should all realize that we need to care about this crisis. the involvement of the business community is beginning to happen and we need more of that sort of thing